Two-motion selector switch



April 27, 1954 H. SENGEBUSCH Filed Aug. 17, 1951 TWO-MOTION SELECTOR SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. l

2 as a J g) S as 72 O 75 7o 60 ea 83 74 44 4 62 5o 65 I S 4| 23 INVENTOR. HANS SENGEBUSCH wag ATTORNEY H. SENGEBUSCH TWO-MOTION SELECTOR SWITCH A ril 21, 1954 a Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1'7, 1951 FIG. 2

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. HANS SENGEBUSGH ATTORNEY April 27, 1954 H. SENGEBUSCH 2,677,01?

TWO-MOTION SELECTOR SWITCH Filed Aug. 17, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR. HANS SENGEBUSCH ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 27, 1954 TWO-MOTION SELECTOR swrron Hans Sengebusch, Villa Park, Ill., assignor to Antomatic Electric Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application August 17, 1951, Serial No.242,363

4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in two motion selector switches, and more specifically to an improved flat type switch for use in telephone systems selectively operating in two directions.

The objects and features of this invention are the rapid and positive operation of a two motion flat switch, operation of the switch by only two electromagnets, a minimum in parts, and very importantly, the use of a hypocycloidal gear in transforming the rotational movement of one member into a movement of a plurality of wiper racks in a radial direction.

Other objects and features will become apparent from a perusal of the following specification and drawings of which: Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of a number of elements of the present embodiment, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a section 'of the switch, more clearly showing the mechanism for change-over of the switch from movement in one direction to movement in another direction, and the release apparatus, Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the switch along the line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view along the line 3--3 of Fig. l.

bare wire contact bank assemblies 92 accessible to it. These assemblies 92 are mounted in a frame 9|. The frame 9! and the assemblies will not be described in detail as they are shown and described in detail in my application for Flat Type Switches, filed July 12, 1951, Serial No. 236,377.

A carriage E0 and a driven element 80 are rotatively mounted, adjacent one another on the base 90 by means of the mounting 25. The mounting is of any type well known in the art. As can be seen in Fig. 1 the carriage 60 has an irregular shape to facilitate the mounting of the wiper assemblies 75, the hypocycloidal gear GI and the lock bar 65 thereon. As can be seen in Fig. 21, the driven element '80 approximates a partial circle. A number of elements cause the necessary cooperation between element 80 and carriage 66. Among these are the-spring 88, andthe stops B5 and 87. The spring 88 is tensioned at all times and is fastened at one end to the base 90. The other end being fastened to the element 80. This spring 88 biases the element 80 in a clockwise. direction as seen in Fig. 1 and in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 2. The stop 85 fastened to the base 96 limits the element 89 in the clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, to its normal position. It is then apparent that if the element 86 has been moved ofi-normal, and is free to rotate it will be rotated in the clockwise direction as seen in Fig. l by the spring 88 until stopped by the stop 85. The stop 87 is mounted upon the element 8!) and intersects the plane of the carriage 60. Therefore if both the element 89 and the carriage are moved off-normal, and are free to rotate, the element 80 in being returned to normal under the tension of spring 88 will cause the return to normal of the carriage 60 by means of the stop 8! bearing against a projected section of the carriage 68.

Other elements causing cooperation between the element 80 and the carriage 60 are the gear 6| and the lock :bar 65. These elements are involved in the selective rotation of the carriage 60 in the counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1, and the selective radial movement of the wiper assemblies. The lock bar is made of any resilient material and is fastened at one end thereof to the carriage 60 by means of the fasteners 69. The other end of the lock bar 65 is forked and each section of the fork has a projection thereon. The projection 61 extends downward and the proj'ection 66 extends upward as can easily be seen in Fig. 3. Through the resiliency of the lock bar 65, it is biased downward so that the projection 61 will intersect the plane of the element 80. Therefor if both the carriage 60 and the element. til are free to rotate and the element is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, part of the element will abut against the projection 61 and cause the carriage Ell to also rotate in that direction. To free the carriage from rotation in that direction, all that is necessary is that the lock bar be raised so that the pro jection 5'! will not intersect the plane of the element til. How this is done will be explained hereinafter.

Turning next to the gear 6| mentioned hereinbefore, this gear 6| is rotatively mounted on the carriage 6i by means of mounting means 64, and is so mounted that if a circle be imagined which includes the projections 82 in its circumference,

' the gear BI- is rotatable on the inside circumference of this circle. The projections 82 are merely a series of pin adjacently mounted in an are on the element 80. The teeth 63 on the gear 6| are so formed as to mesh with the projections 82. The gear teeth 62 on the opposite side of the gear 6| are so formed as to mesh with the gear teeth 74 on the wiper racks 13. Thus if the carriage 60 is maintained stationary and the element 80 is rotated, the gear 6| will rotate.

Turning next to the means for maintaining the carriage 60 stationary in any rotary position and for locking the carriage 60 and the element 86 together to cause them to rotate as a unit: A plate 45 having an arcuate portion and having a series of notches in the arcuate portion is mounted on the base some distance therefrom as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. If the lock bar 65 is raised when the carriage 60 is in any position the projection 66 on the lock bar 65 will engage one of the notches in the plate 45, which particular notch will be engaged depending upon the rotary position of the carriage 6|). If the lock bar 65 is raised to this position the projection 61 will no longer intersect the plane of the element 86. Therefore the carriage 66 will remain stationary and the element 80 can be rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3. The means for raising the lock bar 65 comprises an L-shaped member 44. As can be seen in Fig. Where a section of the element 44 is shown, the element 44 is fastened to the bottom of the base 90 by means of fasteners 21. A portion of the member 44 projects through a slot 46 in the base 90, and is biased upwards by means of a leaf spring 28 fastened to the member 44 by fastener 21. The portion of the element 44 extending through the slot 46 is arcuate in shape and lies directly beneath the notches in the plate 45. The fork on the lock bar 66 having the projection 66 thereon is mounted between the arcuate portion of element 44 and plate 45, and the bias of the element 44 overcomes the bias of the lock bar 65 to normally maintain the projection 66 engaging one of the notches on plate 45. The element 44 also has an arm 43 projecting therefrom. If this arm 43 is depressed the bias of the element 44 will be overcome and the bias of pivotally mounted to a portion of the heelpiece A stop l5 H by means of mounting means I2. is mounted on the base 90 to position the armature l3 in its restored position. A spring M attached to the armature I3 and the stop i5 maintains the armature l3 in its restored position. A stepping pawl 20 is pivotally mounted on the end of the armature l3 by means of mounting means IS. A spring 22 attached to the armature l3 and the pawl 2|] maintains the pawl 20 in engagement with the ratchet teeth 8|. A rotary detent I8 is also provided. The rotary detent I8 is pivotally mounted to the base 95 by means of mounting means IT. A spring 23 attached to the detent l8 and the stop |5 maintains the detent l8 in engagement with the ratchet tooth adjacent to the ratchet tooth engaged by the pawl 20. Therefore if the magnet I0 is energized and deenergized a selected number of times the element 80 will he stepped in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 that selected number of times. .5. stop 2 mounted on the base,

4 96 prevents the pawl 20 from stepping the element 8|) more than one step at a time.

To next describe the changeover means of the switch, a magnet 30 is provided therefor. The magnet 30 is mounted on the base 90 and has a heelpiece 3| and an armature 34. The armature 34 is pivotally mounted to the heelpiece by means of mounting means 32. An arm projects at a right angle from the armature 34 as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. An L-shaped element having arms 4| and 42 is pivotally mounted to the plate by means of mounting means 39. Arm 42 is engageable with arm 43, and arm 4| is engageable with arm 40. Therefore if magnet 30 is energized arm 40 will pivot against arm 4| causing arm 42 to depress arm 43. This will lower the arcuate portion of arm 44 and lock bar will free projection 66 from the notches in plate 45.

One of the important features of this invention is the pair of wiper racks 13 mounted on the carriage 60. These wiper racks 13 are slidably mounted on the carriage 60 one above the other. Guide rails 12 mounted on the carriage 60 maintain the wiper racks 13 in radial alignment. Gear teeth I4 on the wiper racks 13 both engage the gear teeth 62 on the gear 6| on a difierent tangent to the arc of the gear teeth 62. An element 1| mounted on the carriage 60 maintains the gear teeth 14 in mesh with the gear teeth 62. Wiper assemblies 15 are mounted on the gear racks 14 as may be seen in Figs. 1 and 4. These wiper assemblies are well known in the art and need not be described in detail. Pins 16 mounted on the carriage 60 position the wiper tips of the wiper assemblies 15.

The operation of the switch can now be described as follows: initially the magnet 30 is energized, arm 43 is thereby depressed, projection 66 is freed from the plate 45, and projection 61 is held against the edge of element 80, thereby locking the carriage 60 and the element together for counterclockwise rotation as viewed in Fig. 1, magnet I0 is then energized and deenergized a selected number of times, armature |3 through the pawl 20 will rotate the element 80 in steps the selected number of times, magnet 30 is then deenergized, the arm 43 is thereby raised and the arcuate portion of element 44 will cause projection 66 to engage one of the notches in plate 45 and remove the projection 61 from the plane of the element 8|], thereby locking the carriage 60 from further rotational movement while permitting the element 80 to be further rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, the magnet I0 is then energized and deenergized a second selected number of times, armature l3 through the pawl 20 will then rotate the element 80 in steps the second selected number of times, this rotation of element 80 will cause a rotation of the gear 6| by the projections 82 meshing with the teeth 63, the gear teeth 62 on the opposite side of the gear 6| will act upon the gear teeth 14 of both wiper racks 13 to slide the gear racks 14 in a radial direction the second selected number of steps, and the wiper assemblies 15 will thereby contact a selected group of bank contacts of the bank contacts 92.

Turning next to the release features of the switch, an element 41 is pivotally mounted to the base by means of the mounting means 48. This element 4! is biased in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 by spring 31 mounted on the base 30. This bias is limited by a pin 5| mounted on the base 90. The tip 41a of the element 41 is normally disposed adjacent to the detent I8 so that if the element 41 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l the tip 41a will force the detent l8 and in turn the pawl 2|! out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 8|. If the e ement 8G is ofi-normal when this is done it will return to normal under the power of the spring 88 as described hereinbefore. An arm 36 is pivotally mounted on the armature 34 by means of mounting means 29. A spring 35 attached to the arm 38 and the armature 34 biases the arm 35 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l. A spring 38 mounted on the base 90 additionally biases the arm 36 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. When the switch is off-normal the bias on the arm 36 will cause a notch on the arm 36 to engage a projection 49 on the element 41, but in the normal position of the switch the arm 36 is prevented from this engagement by a pin 50 mounted on the under side of the element 80, which pin engages the tip of the arm 36. The function of this pin is to prevent the disengagement of the pawl 20 and the detent IE on the initial operation of the switch when magnet 30 is energized. The release and restoration of the switch will now be described. To release the switch, magnet 30 is momentarily energized, arm 43 is thereby depressed lowering the arcuate portion of element 44, but the notch 66 will not be disengaged from the notches in plate 45 at this time because the projection 51 will be riding on the upper surface of element 80. At the same time that element 43 was depressed armature 34 will operate the arm 36 against the projection 49 of element l! causing the tip 41a of element 41 to force the detent l8 and the pawl 20 from engagement with the ratchet teeth 8|. Element 80 will then rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, in turn rotating the gear Bl in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, in turn returning the wiper racks 13 to normal. At this time the projection 6'! will ride off of the upper surface of element 80, and the bias of the lock bar 85 will cause projection 66 to be disengaged from the notches in plate 45. The element 80 and the carriage 88 will then rotate together in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 under the power of spring 88 to the normal position as hereinbefore described.

This embodiment also contains remote position indicating means for indicating the extent of rotary and radial operation of the switch at any time. An arcuate scale 86 is mounted on the base 90. A projection 68 on the carriage has pointer thereon so that the rotary position of the switch is indicated on the scale 86 by this pointer when the carriage is rotated. The projection 86 also has an opening therein. An arcuate shaped element 83 is mounted on the-element so as can clearly be seen in Fig. 2. This element 83 has a scale 84 thereon so that when the element is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 with respect to the carriage 6D, corresponding to the radial movement of the switch, the scale 84 will indicate through the opening in the projection 68 the extent of radial operation of the switch.

For complete operation of the switch, contact spring assemblies [6 and 89 are provided. These assemblies are mounted on the base 90, and assembly 89 is operated by a pin 10 mounted on the carriage 60, while assembly I6 is operated by a projection on the armature [3. The use of these 6 assemblies is well known in the art and need not be described in detail.

Having described my invention what I consider new and desire to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. In a two motion selecting switch having a rotatable wiper carriage and a plurality of wiper racks slidably mounted on said wiper carriage and having a plurality of wipers mounted on said wiper racks and having a plurality of groups of bank contacts with a difierent group of bank contacts accessible to each wiper simultaneously, a driving element, means for moving said driving element a first and a second selected amount, means on said driving element and said carriage for locking said driving element and said carriage together so that as said driving element is moved said first selected amount said carriage is moved said first selected amount to position all of said wipers before different particular groups of bank contacts corresponding to said first selected amount, means for unlocking said driving element and said carriage upon the completion of movement said first selected amount, a gear segment rotatively mounted on said carriage, means for meshing said gear segment with said driving element, means for meshing said gear segment with each of said wiper racks so that as said driving element is moved said second selected amount said gear segment is rotated to slide each of said gear racks to move each of said wipers simultaneously into said difierent particular groups of bank contacts.

2. In a switch as claimed in claim 1, said fourth means comprising a series of projections spaced in an are on said driving element, and a portion of said segment having a series of teeth spaced in an arm which meshes with said projections on said driving element.

3. In a switch as claimed in claim 1, said fifth means comprising a series of gear teeth spaced in an are along said gear segment, and each of said wiper rack having a gear rack thereon, each of said gear racks meshing with said gear teeth on a different tangent of said are of said gear segment.

4. In a two motion selecting switch having a plurality of sets of wipers and having groups of bank contact sets accessible to each wiper set, a pair of rotatably mounted elements, means for rotating both elements together to move all the wiper sets adjacent one of the sets of bank contacts accessible thereto, a gear sector mounted on the first of the two elements, a gear sector mounted on the second element and meshed with said gear sector on the first element, means for moving said first element relative to the said second element to thereby cause rotation of said sec ond gear sector, a gear rack for each wiper set engaging said second gear, each of said gear racks mounted to engage said gear sector along a different tangent so that rotation of said second element causes simultaneou movement of all of said wiper sets in a second direction to simultaneously engage one of the contact sets in the group to which they are moved.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,460,913 Lienzen et a1. July 3, 1923 2,228,297 Betulander Jan. 14. 1941 

